Send appointment confirmation without GDPR opt-in.
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Instituut Babette
As a business owner, I want my customers to receive appointment confirmation emails as well as reminders, even if they have not confirmed the GDPR opt-in email. This leads to increased risk of no-show.
GDPR opt-in is not legally required for customer facing communication about appointments or reminders, as long as there is no commercial or marketing related content.
Sara Meert
Merged in a post:
Able to adapt GDPR opt-in email
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Babette
Able to adapt GDPR opt-in email
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Instituut Babette
Hi Kaat,
Thanks for your response.
I think that an important nuance is missing here and a distinction must be made between commercial and non-commercial communication.
The GDPR provides a legal basis for processing personal data when it is necessary for the execution of an agreement. This is because a consumer who books an appointment enters into an agreement with a company. It is therefore perfectly allowed to inform consumers by email about that agreement and what its modalities are.
In short, GDPR opt-in is not necessary for sending appointment confirmations and reminders. This should be a minor change, to enable email preference by default.
Kaat Lavaerts
Hey Babette,
Thanks for your feedback. I'm sharing this with the authorized people at Optios.
In the short term, we will take steps to increase the visibility and persuasion of the GDPR mail. For example, more people should set their email preferences.
Your proposal is of a slightly larger order, and has a little more ground in terms of development, but the feedback will certainly be taken into account for future developments.
The reason why we are so strict about these opt-ins is twofold and you can read here (https://help.optios.net/nl/articles/10335427-waarom-moet-ik-mijn-klanten-nogmaals-om-toestemming-vragen-als-ik-deze-al-kreeg-via-een-andere-software)
Workaround that could work for you now = send texts. If you would like more information about this, please contact help@optios.net
Greetings,
Map
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Instituut Babette
Hi Kaat, thanks for your question.
The problem is twofold:
- GDPR consent is not necessary to send an appointment confirmation and reminder. This communication is part of the normal course of business, as long as it has no commercial or marketing purpose. Customers who do not opt-in to the GDPR are currently not receiving these emails at all, leading to a higher risk of no-show.
- The GDPR email cannot be modified at the moment. At least it must be possible to make a reference to the general terms and conditions or booking conditions here, so that in the event of a no-show, an invoice can be issued that has a legal basis. Without this information, we cannot prove that the customer was sufficiently informed and agreed to the terms when booking an appointment. This is certainly the case when customers book an appointment by phone or via any other channel other than the online booking tool.
There have already been several discussions about this with customers who say they made an appointment on another day or time, and have therefore resulted in a no-show. In that case, we have no footing, because we cannot prove that we have informed them correctly about the appointment or the booking conditions.
Ideally, #1 will therefore be addressed, eliminating the need for #2.
Kaat Lavaerts
Hey Babette, we are currently reviewing this email. What would you like to change about the mail. Unfortunately, we cannot 'open' it up for everyone to modify them themselves. The mail must meet various conditions according to the GDPR legislation. But we would be happy to include your input for the new version.